Shower Tub Shell Peeling Away

Todd Klassy · 05-08-2015, 02:27 PM

Do any of you have experience with the shower/tub shell peeling away from the wall? Especially at the top? I can reach behind it and feel a piece of double sided tape that is no longer adhering to the wall.

If you do have experience with this, have you used a glue or epoxy that has fixed the problem?

BerryJN3 · 05-08-2015, 06:07 PM

Mine is coming apart some at the bottom and we have never even used the shower or bath yet. Interested in response

TexasRT · 05-08-2015, 06:09 PM

What units do y'all have?

BerryJN3 · 05-08-2015, 06:30 PM

jay flight 264bhw

Todd Klassy · 05-08-2015, 08:42 PM

Jay Flight 23RB

usmc616 · 05-08-2015, 09:20 PM

On my 32BHDS the tub surround has a gap on top and is not sealed on the bottom where it meets up with the bath tub. I have been told this is designed that way to allow any moisture , behind the tub surround, to escape. The top lip of the bath tub extends a few inches up the wall and is overlapped by the tub surround.

BerryJN3 · 05-09-2015, 04:19 AM

Good to know! Thank you

Revschuette · 06-05-2015, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by usmc616

On my 32BHDS the tub surround has a gap on top and is not sealed on the bottom where it meets up with the bath tub. I have been told this is designed that way to allow any moisture , behind the tub surround, to escape. The top lip of the bath tub extends a few inches up the wall and is overlapped by the tub surround.

We just purchased a white hawk and was wondering about the shower surround. I was thinking about caulking around the tub and at the top of the surround. Maybe that wouldn't be a good idea if it was designed the way you described? I just figured it would be better if water couldn't get in at all.

wags999 · 06-05-2015, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd Klassy

Do any of you have experience with the shower/tub shell peeling away from the wall? Especially at the top? I can reach behind it and feel a piece of double sided tape that is no longer adhering to the wall.

If you do have experience with this, have you used a glue or epoxy that has fixed the problem?

I would use a good quality silicone to adhere it to the wall. Silicone will allow the walls to move.

The bottom is not caulked to allow water to escape. The tub has a flange that extends up and the walls come down over that flange.

usmc616 · 06-09-2015, 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wags999

I would use a good quality silicone to adhere it to the wall. Silicone will allow the walls to move.

The bottom is not caulked to allow water to escape. The tub has a flange that extends up and the walls come down over that flange.

I don't think any silicone is needed, the tub surround is fastened to the wall. On my tub surround there are caps over the fasteners, which are spaced about 8 inches apart.
I would be afraid of water getting trapped in there and then sitting against the wall.

wags999 · 06-09-2015, 06:53 AM

You can silicone the top, where the existing double sided tape has let go. As I stated before you do not want to silicone the bottom, so any moisture can escape. The silicone never hardens and will allow movement.

Camper_bob · 06-09-2015, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revschuette

We just purchased a white hawk and was wondering about the shower surround. I was thinking about caulking around the tub and at the top of the surround. Maybe that wouldn't be a good idea if it was designed the way you described? I just figured it would be better if water couldn't get in at all.

Yes, DO NOT caulk the bottom OR top of the surround. It is designed to have a bit of an air gap so that condensation can dry/drain.

If you need to reattach the surround to the wall, then silicone is probably a good option as wags says, it remains flexible. You could also consider using pop rivets depending on the design.

blderman · 06-10-2015, 02:19 PM

I concur, do not caulk the top or bottom. However, I will be applying silicone to the face of the pop rivets. Those are not designed for repeated water exposure and will eventually siphon water to the luan wallboard behind the liner.

Camper_bob · 06-10-2015, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blderman

I concur, do not caulk the top or bottom. However, I will be applying silicone to the face of the pop rivets. Those are not designed for repeated water exposure and will eventually siphon water to the luan wallboard behind the liner.

I thought about doing that too. See, I caulked the bottom of my surround, that's how I know not to do it. Some of the caulk peeled away and I saw red water leaking out from behind it into the shower pan and freaked out. I know that luan stuff is dyed and if it gets wet, that's the first indicator, that dye (or whatever gives it its color) starts to run.

So I removed all the caulk (major PITA by the way) and pulled a bunch of the rivets out so I could examine the wall behind the shower surround. It ended up being that water (most likely condensation because it was cold out that trip, and DW likes her showers HOT) was collecting in the gap between the shower surround and the lip of the shower pan, and there were some wood shavings collected there from assembly that were getting wet and bleeding their color down the shower pan (whew! no leaks).

But I discovered that those rivets are TIGHT into that surround. None of mine leaked so much as a drop behind the surround, and I don't expect them to. But with that being said, a little silicone would be great insurance against the possibility of them ever leaking. If I were to tackle that project, I would remove the rivets, apply some silicone, and reinstall them, but just around the bottom two rows or so (below the "splash line"), and I think that would be more than adequate.

blderman · 06-10-2015, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

I thought about doing that too. See, I caulked the bottom of my surround, that's how I know not to do it. Some of the caulk peeled away and I saw red water leaking out from behind it into the shower pan and freaked out. I know that luan stuff is dyed and if it gets wet, that's the first indicator, that dye (or whatever gives it its color) starts to run.

So I removed all the caulk (major PITA by the way) and pulled a bunch of the rivets out so I could examine the wall behind the shower surround. It ended up being that water (most likely condensation because it was cold out that trip, and DW likes her showers HOT) was collecting in the gap between the shower surround and the lip of the shower pan, and there were some wood shavings collected there from assembly that were getting wet and bleeding their color down the shower pan (whew! no leaks).

But I discovered that those rivets are TIGHT into that surround. None of mine leaked so much as a drop behind the surround, and I don't expect them to. But with that being said, a little silicone would be great insurance against the possibility of them ever leaking. If I were to tackle that project, I would remove the rivets, apply some silicone, and reinstall them, but just around the bottom two rows or so (below the "splash line"), and I think that would be more than adequate.

I install those rivets on commercial construction projects all the time. Their primary purpose is to hold the sheet on while the glue dries. The way Jayco has used them, especially through 3/16" luan, is not suitable for long term use.

BigJohnD · 06-10-2015, 06:01 PM

I did exactly as Camper_bob mentioned. Bottom 2 rows. Removed the rivet, filled hole with proflex and dabbed a little where the rivet touches the surround, then resecured. Fortunately, I can see pretty good under the shower pan through the access panel. Have never had a leak with that. Now the shower door is a different story. I had to remove that whole contraption and start from scratch. Better now though.

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